Ronnie O'Sullivan has made thoughts perfectly clear in comments about John Higgins

Seven-time world champion has been hugely complimentary of fellow icon in the past. Not everyone in the snooker curries favour with 'The Rocket', but it seems four-time world champ Higgins is among those who gets a pass.

Both legends of the sport are in the running to win at the Crucible this month. And in fact, snooker fans should be excited at the prospect of a potential final between O'Sullivan - who opens his against Ali Carter on Tuesday - and 'The Wizard of Wishaw'.

Higgins, 49, made headlines this week after beating Joe O'Connor 10-7 in his first-round matchup. The Scot while discussing his father-in-law's recent heart attack, which puts any praise of the man in finer context.

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But it's not only in public that O'Sullivan, also 49, has given Higgins his dues. And snooker MC Phil Seymour relayed a story earlier this year about how O'Sullivan showed up early for their final at the 2021 Players Championship, showing some signs of nerviness before facing a rival he holds in high regard.

"That's very unlike Ronnie [to show up early]. He normally turns up at the last minute and on he goes," said Seymour on the . "So he arrived early and there's only me and him there. I said something like, 'You're keen,' and he looked at me and said, 'Phil, I just want to get in that car and go home mate. When John Higgins is playing like this it's hardly worth playing him. You've got no chance.'

"I thought those were brilliant words. They were the sort of things that you wouldn’t hear Ronnie saying in an interview. They were great words."

As those comments convey, Higgins was on fire at the time and maintained that form with a 10-3 triumph over O'Sullivan in the title decider. Not that The Rocket ever held a grudge, lavishing more praise on Higgins following his semi-final win over Yan Bingtao at the 2021 Northern Ireland Open.

"I am baffled when people say they want to play John Higgins," he said at the time. "You don’t want to play John Higgins. It’s like playing Messi, I don't want to play against , I don’t want to play against Roger Federer. If he’s playing well like tonight, I'm going to be a spectator."

That serves to underline just how much Ronnie respects his rival after comparing him to eight-time Ballon d'Or-winner Messi. And he later went into even greater detail when defining where he puts Higgins alongside the biggest names he has faced.

"John was probably the best all-round player that’s ever played the game, yeah, without a doubt," he told . "Technically unbelievable, break-building fantastic, safety... probably been no one better, bottle - tonnes of it.

"My only thing, if you’re going to criticise someone, I just think he wasn’t aggressive enough. I think he would’ve won a lot more if he had just been more aggressive. But I don’t think John is built like that, I think his mindset is, 'I just want to shut up shop', and he can keep you out for hours and hours."

Ronnie went on to illustrate how he and Higgins differ stylistically. His mantra is to be more aggressive while potentially leaving openings, because he's confident his opponent is "just going to crack" regardless and give him chances in return.

At the other end of the spectrum, he urged Higgins to take more risks and noted he can afford to do so due to his talent: "It’s okay to give chances away when you’re that good, because the opponent is just going to crumble anyway and leave you in."

The Rocket reiterated his appreciation for Higgins' all-round game while on commentary duty at the 2024 Welsh Open. O'Sullivan praised his peer for employing a mental coach to get the most out of his game, highlighting the potential that move had to optimise an already outstanding snooker player.

"It does not take long for John to get going," he said during a punditry appearance on Eurosport. "If everything went bad for him he’d still be a top-eight player, his standard can never drop below a certain level but if he clicks it and finds it, it is like a train with no brakes.

"There isn’t another player on the circuit who can stay with him. He is so good in every department, but it is hard to keep repeating that performance after performance."